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No one had heard from him and the fact that he did not even go home to see his mom for his birthday, which was, I mean, ritual. That was gospel happening. I mean, there was no way that that was ever going to be missed no matter what was going on.

No matter where he was, he was going to be home on his birthday. He didn't miss that. So when he not only didn't show up, but didn't call, didn't answer, didn't have any other interaction, that's pretty well when the family knew that something was definitely wrong.

And when Deb told me that, my heart just sank because I know if Eric had left there at the very least one of us, one of his friends that he talked to regularly enough would have gotten some sort of a message.

Even if he didn't tell everybody, he would have reached out to somebody. And I like to think that he would have reached out to me because there was so much that we had talked about as far as like a fallback plan. If things went badly in Michigan, there was always a backup plan.

Yesterday, we brought you the first part in the story of Eric Franks, who disappeared sometime in March of 2011 from Saginaw, Michigan, and whose case had gone cold until last year when his car was suddenly found.

But that isn't the only surprising turn of events in Eric's case. And today you'll hear the rest of the tale that spans from possibly a fake death to an airplane in Mississippi,

and an investigation that found its way to Florida and then back to Michigan. Eric's disappearance has never truly been dormant because every time investigators think they've found an answer, another turn of events changes everything.

I'm Marissa, and from Wondery, this is episode 311 of The Vanished, part two of Eric Franks' story.

I'm Candace Dillon, host of the podcast Killer Psychie, and in our newest season, we dissect the thoughts and behaviors of the most violent figures in history. Follow Killer Psychie on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts, or you can listen early and add free by joining Wondery Plus on Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app.

Yesterday, you heard us share the astonishing revelation that came nearly a decade after Eric Franks vanished. Though Eric's family had reconciled with the fact that Eric was likely deceased, they hadn't settled for a life without answers.

So when his car was found, his family found new hope that the investigation would come to a resolution.

You heard Joanne and Chad talk about how hard it was to convince the police that Eric's disappearance wasn't voluntary. We asked Joanne to tell us why reporting Eric missing was so difficult for her and felt very confusing at times, especially when the police said he could disappear if he chose to.

When the motel owner told me Eric didn't check himself out, I knew something was wrong there. And that's actually what made the police take more interest in it. And before that, he said he's an adult who can disappear if he wants to.

And then also getting the emails at first, I wasn't that concerned because he went home for a little while. I was getting them periodically when I would call on the messages so I figured he's okay. But when that became where he never he wasn't calling me and it was strange and it started worrying me.

I think I had decided that he surely was dead way early on. But when the emails stopped and then I got one after we reported him missing, I could pretty well tell them, oh, that's not even him.

I've been hearing from and that it was probably Kendra or someone associated with her.

And I guess it was the end when it really hit me, but now he was sending me pictures. So I think at first it was him some of the early emails I got where he sent me pictures of Emily.

He said that Kendra was bringing pictures to the motel and showing them to him. And so then he would send them to me. I think that surely was him. I mean, it's very possible it wasn't, but I think it was early on.

But then after I talked to him March 9 or 10, that was the last time I actually talked to him on the phone. After that, I don't think any of them probably worked from him.

In part one, you heard Joanne explain that after they had reported Eric missing and Eric's friend Leah had posted on Eric's Facebook group about his disappearance.

Joanne received yet another strange email, supposedly from Eric. The email stated that he had gotten a new phone and that it would be set up that day.

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